Chetwynd and another v Tunmore and another – WLR Daily

‘The claimants alleged that the excavation of lakes by the defendants on the defendants’ land, and the abstraction of underground water as a result, had adversely affected the claimants’ fishery, in particular the water levels in the ponds therein. They issued a claim against the defendants, inter alia, under section 48A of the Water Resources Act 1991, seeking damages for the loss of fish from the ponds, the loss of income from the fishery, the costs of remediating the ponds, expenses incurred and for loss of amenity. The defendants denied liability on the basis that, under section 48A, they could only be liable for loss or damage caused by the abstraction which could reasonably have been foreseen by them and that, in any event, the claimants had failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the defendants’ abstraction of water by the excavation of the lakes was the effective cause of the claimants’ alleged loss or damage.’